Question

What is Fortas saying in this passage?

Check all of the boxes that apply.

Student armbands disrupted the school day.

The armbands did not interfere with other students.

The armbands did not threaten other students.

Other students should have felt threatened by the armbands.

The armbands represent an expression of opinion.


The school officials banned and sought to punish petitioners for a silent, passive expression of opinion, unaccompanied by any disorder or disturbance on the part of petitioners. There is here no evidence whatever of petitioners' interference, actual or nascent, with the schools' work or of collision with the rights of other students to be secure and to be let alone. Accordingly, this case does not concern speech or action that intrudes upon the work of the schools or the rights of other students.

Answer 1

The armbands did not interfere with other students.

The armbands did not threaten other students.

The armbands represent an expression of opinion.

Step-by-step explanation:

"Abe Fortas" was an American prominent lawyer who played a vital role in the issue regarding "Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District." The school (Tinker) suspended students for wearing black armbands as a sign of protest against USA's involvement in the Vietnam war.

The Court ruled the case as non-punishable by law because it did not directly cause any implications, such as disorder or disturbance in school. The punishment can also be justified if there was an evidence that it disrupted the classes. So, in this case, the armbands did not interfere with other students nor did it threaten them. It was also meant to represent an expression of opinion under the First Amendment's right to political dissent.